TEXAS - Texas gained more residents than any other state in 2013, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Dec. 30, 2013. The Lone Star State, which has ranked first in annual population growth since 2006, said 'howdy' to 387,000 new Texans from July 1, 2012, to July 1, 2013.

California — still the nation's most populous state with 38 million people — added 332,000 residents while Florida netted 232,111 newcomers.

Warmer-weather states in the South and West are gaining residents at a faster clip than the chilly Midwest and Northeast, both of which have seen only sluggish growth in recent years.

North Dakota's impressive 3.1 percent population increase proves the one exception to the climatic trend, notes the Washington Post, thanks to the state's ongoing boom in oil and natural gas.